Departmental Foreign Workers

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many  (a) EU foreign nationals and  (b) non-EU foreign nationals are employed by his Department.

Maria Eagle: The Ministry has an obligation under the Civil Service Commissioners Recruitment Code to ensure its recruitment processes are operating under open and fair principles. The MOJ only employs applicants who have the right to work in the UK, and an individual's nationality is verified before an offer of employment is made. Civil Service rules enable EEA nationals and certain non-EEA family members to be employed as Civil Servants. The Ministry of Justice does not hold central data in respect of the number of EU foreign national employed and it could be collected only at disproportionate costs.
	There is also a provision that, in exceptional circumstances, foreign nationals, other than EEA nationals and certain non-EEA family members, may be employed by means of an aliens' certificate under the Aliens' Employment Act 1955. This Act empowers the employing Department's Minister, with the approval of the Minister for the Civil Service, to issue a certificate of employment in certain circumstances. Information on the number of staff employed under the Alien's Employment Act 1955 is collected. The Prison Service currently employs one person under the Act and approved by the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Ministry of Justice, with the consent of the Minister for the Civil Service.

Departmental Ministerial Policy Advisers

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether any of his Department's special advisers have declared a conflict of interest; and if he will make a statement.

Maria Eagle: Special advisers are appointed under terms and conditions set out in the model contract for special advisers. Copies of the model contract are available in the Libraries of the House. Neither of the Ministry of Justice's special advisers have declared any conflicts of interest to the Ministry since their appointment but are aware of the need to declare any future conflicts that may arise in the course of their work.

Departmental Ministerial Policy Advisers

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the office costs for his Department's special advisers for 2007-08 are expected to be, including costs of support staff; and how many full-time equivalent civil servants work in support of such special advisers.

Maria Eagle: The Ministry of Justice employs two special advisers. Details of their remuneration were published on 22 November 2997,  Official Report, columns 148-50WS. They are supported by two full-time equivalent support staff. Given this small number of staff, providing cost information could identify an individual's salary, which is confidential between the individual and the employer. Office costs will be accounted for in the 2007-08 departmental annual report and accounts.

Departmental Secondment

Theresa May: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many secondments of staff were made  (a) to and  (b) from his Department in each year since 1997; which organisations staff were seconded (i) to and (ii) from; how many staff were seconded in each year; for how long each secondment lasted; and what the cost was of each secondment in each year.

Maria Eagle: There is currently no requirement for Departments to hold details of secondment information centrally; information on secondments out of the Department or the destination and cost of the secondments are not held on the Ministry of Justice's internal HR system and can be provided only at a disproportionate cost. However information on secondees into the Department and those who entered the Department on loan from other Government Departments is recorded on the Ministry of Justice's internal HR Oracle system and are detailed in the following table.
	
		
			  Inwards secondments (headcount) MOJ (former DCA including only DCA HQ, HMCS, tribunals, OPG, Scotland and Wales Office) 
			   Secondment headcount  Loan headcount 
			 1 April 1997 to 31 March l998 0 4 
			 1 April 1998 to 31 March l999 0 26 
			 1 April 1999 to 31 March 2000 6 18 
			 1 April 2000 to 31 March 2001 0 7 
			 1 April 2001 to 31 March 2002 1 18 
			 1 April 2002 to 31 March 2003 1 13 
			 1 April 2003 to 31 March 2004 0 17 
			 1 April 2004 to 31 March 2005 1 26 
			 1 October 2005 to 30 September 2006 0 6 
			 1 October 2006 to 30 September 2007 0 12

National Security

Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the Statement of the Prime Minister of 14 November 2007,  Official Report, columns 667-72, on national security, when he expects the specialist unit in the Prisons Service tasked with preventing extremists using prison networks to plot future activities announced by the Prime Minister to be set up; what he expects its costs to be; and how he plans to measure the effectiveness of the unit.

Maria Eagle: HM Prison Service's Extremism Unit was established in March 2007, and is co-ordinating a programme of work to address the risks posed by extremists in prison. The programme includes awareness raising and training for staff, support for Muslim Chaplains, collection and analysis of information, strategy and policy development. The Unit's costs for the current financial year are expected to be in the order of £350,000. The programme of work co-ordinated by the unit is linked to the CONTEST strategy and is reviewed by Ministers on a regular basis.

Police Custody: Wales

Stephen Crabb: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  on how many days police custody suites in  (a) Wales,  (b) Dyfed-Powys police area and  (c) Pembrokeshire have been used to accommodate prisoners in 2007;
	(2)  how many prisoners have been accommodated in police custody suites in  (a) Wales,  (b) Dyfed-Powys police area and  (c) Pembrokeshire in 2007;
	(3)  how many cells in police custody units in  (a) Wales,  (b) Dyfed-Powys police area and  (c) Pembrokeshire are reserved for prisoners.

David Hanson: The number of places provided by police forces for Operation Safeguard use may vary according to operational pressures. On 16 November 2007 there were 38 places available for Operation Safeguard use in Wales. No places were available in Dyfed Powys police force area or in Pembrokeshire.
	The following table shows the number of nights between 22 January and 20 November 2007 that police cells were used in Wales, by Dyfed Powys police force and in Pembrokeshire for Operation Safeguard, and the number of occasions prisoners were held; one occasion means one prisoner night in a police cell.
	
		
			   Nights  Occasions 
			 Wales 231 4,182 
			 Dyfed Powys 125 615 
			 Pembrokeshire 80 332